PSE’s Frank Pearson Says that Even with a Peep Sight You Still Can Miss a Target

PSE’s Frank Pearson

Editor’s Note: If you don’t understand the relationship of a peep sight to a bow sight, you can drastically miss the target, even if you can see the bow sight through the peep sight. This is a common mistake that both bowhunters and target archers make, and it’s a problem that Frank Pearson will teach us to overcome today.

Pearson explains, “You have to remember that a peep sight isn’t just a device to enable the archer to look through the string on the bow. Instead, it functions exactly like the rear sight of a rifle. To shoot accurately, you have to make sure that the front pin that you’re aiming with is lined up exactly in the center of the peep sight. Many bowhunters and tournament archers look through the hole in the peep sight. When they see the pin, they want to use it to aim with in that peep sight and release the arrow. Many times, a shooter doesn’t look to see if that front sight is lined up perfectly in the center of the peep sight. The front sight may appear to be at the top of the peep sight, at the bottom of the peep sight or more to the left or the right of the peep sight. Often shooters don’t take the time required to make sure that that front sight is in the very center of the peep sight.

“For instance, if the front sight is at the top of your peep sight instead of dead center, you’ll miss as badly as you will miss if the front sight on your rifle is at the very top of the rifle sight. Many bowhunters, when they miss the buck or the elk of a lifetime, don’t even see it through the peep sight. Instead they see that big animal and put the pin they want to use on the spot they want to hit and forget about looking through the peep sight. So, even though they put the pin on the spot they want to hit, if they forget to look through the peep sight, they’ll miss the animal. At the Frank Pearson School of Archery, I drill into my students the idea of having a shot routine, where you always take the shot by the numbers you’ve written out and walk you through making the perfect shot. Lining up the front sight and the peep sight is one of the steps of your shot routine. Then, regardless of the target or the distance, you have the best chance of making the most accurate shot you can make.

“Here’s a drill you can try at home. Aim at the center ring of the target you’re going to shoot, put the front sight at the very top of your peep sight, and then release the arrow. With your next arrow, aim at the center of the target, put the front sight at the bottom of your peep sight and release the arrow. Follow the same drill, by putting the front sight on the left and then the right side of your peep sight. Then with your final shot, put the front sight dead center on your peep sight, and release the arrow. If you repeat this same drill at different distances, you’ll quickly see and understand how important lining up the front sight in the center of the peep sight every time you take a shot is and how that process increases your accuracy.

Next week, Frank Pearson will give us some more shooting tips and explain why there’s no such term as, “target panic,” one of the most feared diseases of both bowhunters and target archers. Pearson will give you the remedy.

To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and hunting accessories, click here.